10X10 Frame
by Tameh Ansho
Summary: One hundred words to tell one hundred stories. One hundred stories to paint one hundred pictures. And one hundred pictures to show one family.


A/N Alright, yes, I know I should be working on the next chapter for "A is for Artemis," but I had this sitting around and wanted to post it. So, this is my take on the "one hundred word prompts" challenge. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Yes, I do indeed dis that claim. Deal with it. ;P

Rivalry

"Faster!"

Bare feet slapped across the pavement as the girls pushed themselves to their limit and beyond.

"Higher!"

Knees crooked and straightened, and the siblings threw their slender bodies into the air, both reaching desperately for the bar that dangled so tantalizingly close.

"It's not good enough! You'll never be good enough!"

-And the girls fell hard the ground below, their slim fingers-one calloused from gripping a bow, the other from a knife-failing to grasp the slippery rod.

"You're both weak and worthless, and you'll never be anything if you can't even beat each other!"

Artemis and Jade were on their feet in an instant, ready and willing to prove to their father and to each other who was the better.

"Again!"

The better warrior, the better ninja, the better assassin. The best daughter.

Beautiful

Roy woke slowly, emerging from dreams of the past like a diver surfacing. He groaned softly as the light burned his retinas and rolled over towards his window-he could have sworn he closed the shades last night-propping himself up on one elbow.

A figure, obviously female, stood in front of the window, a wild mane of black hair cascading down to her hips. As she heard him stir, the woman turned slightly, looking over her shoulder with a soft grin.

"Morning."

Roy was too stunned for words, busy taking in the sight of the normally flirtatious and sarcastic Shadow. Though he would never admit it, his heart skipped several beats at the sight of Jade in nothing but one of his t-shirts, her slanted features lifted in a rare genuine smile, and her entire body bathed in liquid sunlight.

She was…Beautiful, gorgeous, sexy and dangerous, and could kick his ass in a heartbeat if she wanted to. But that's alright.

Because she was his.

Standing Still

The sun was beautiful. Jade rarely saw it nowadays; hers was work best done under the cover of night. After all, the dark didn't judge, and the moon asked no questions.

But for once, Jade simply basked in the warmth spilling from the open shade, letting the golden light warm ever inch of her body not covered by the too-big shirt she had stolen from her lover. For an instant she imagined she was normal; that she wasn't one of the most infamous and wanted assassins, and that her boyfriend wasn't a hero in the Justice League, who by all rights should be hand-cuffing her and leading her to Belle Reve. She let herself pretend that she was any other ordinary college student, and that her exhaustion was from a wild party the night before, not the result of running through the city, chasing marks and evading escape.

A faint rustling broke her from the daydream and she turned slightly, looking over her shoulder to the bed.

"Morning." She whispered, flashing a rare smile; soft, with no traces of sarcasm or teasing in it.

Roy smiled as well, his normally guarded emerald eyes tender and gentle. "Morning yourself, gorgeous."

And time stood still.

Dark

Villains roamed freely; only the most superstitious bothered to look up at the always-cloudy sky. After all, it was whispered that even Batman feared to tread the black streets of Blud-Haven.

Ebony hair whispered in the wind and Nightwing smirked, scanning the thick shadows that cloaked his new home-town.

"Good thing I was never afraid of the dark."

Grinning cheekily and stifling his customary chuckle-after all, he wasn't Robin any more-the vigilante stole off into the night.

Dick had work to do.

Tears

They were all heartbroken, destroyed physically, mentally, emotionally. The entire team was covered in injuries, some still bleeding through their wrappings of thick white gauze.

They would have given anything to never see blood again.

Artemis was curled into a ball, her body still shaking though the blonde archer had long since fallen asleep. Wally was curled up against her, his arms wrapped around her as though to keep her from falling apart; Roy lay on her other side, her face buried in the crook of his neck as he stroked her thick golden hair.

M'gann and Connor were wrapped in each others arms, the clones shirt soaked with tears.

Zatanna was the only one of the team still awake, running her hands through Robins ebony locks mechanically, the little birds head perched on her lap. Even the magicians wide eyes glistened with tears.

When they woke, the tears would start anew as the passed through the hangar, and the pool that lay there, as they remembered Kaldur-their leader, their teammate, their friend, their _brother_-leaving them for dead.

They would never forget the cold glare in his eyes as he slowly faded in to the distance, Ra's al Ghul patting his shoulder proudly.

One Day

Maybe one day, there will be no petty thefts, no muggings or murders, no trainings or missions of a pointless nature; maybe a day will come when all the villains are in prison, and actually _stay_ there.

One day, maybe M'gann will become a world famous chef, and Connor will save the world with Clark on Bring-Your-Son-To-Work-Day. Maybe one day Dick will tell everyone who he really is, and Kaldur will get over Tula, and Zatara will unground Zatanna. One day, perhaps, Wally will stop flirting with everything even remotely female, Artemis will stop arguing with him, and they'll be the best of friends and never fight again. One day Roy may stop hating Artemis and start going by Speedy again, Jade may return to her mother and little sister as a hero not an assassin, and Sportsmaster could actually discover he has a heart.

But until the impossible happens, they'll continue fighting and flirting and saving the day.

Because they're heroes, and that's what heroes do.

Innocence

He watched it fall sixty feet to the ground, only to drown in the pools of blood spilling from their broken bodies.

It was torn from her when war ripped her family, planet, and future apart.

His was burned from his soul as he watched his beloved father slaughter innocent Atlanteans.

The Geno-morphs banished it from his mind before he was little more than a three-day-old infant.

Theirs were destroyed, piece by piece, everyday by the father who only wanted weapons, until they could no longer find solace even in each other.

Even his was buried deep behind a cheerful mask, lost in the rush of lightspeed chaos that had become his life.

One by one, they each lost their innocence to the darkness of the world. But through their sacrifices, they each found a way to serve the greater good; to save lives and prevent tragedies like the ones they suffered.

Break Away

He had to run, had to fly; had to do anything to just get away. He just couldn't do it anymore. The voices wouldn't leave him alone; they swirled, harsh and chaotic, in his mind and brought him back to that hated time in his pod.

_Kill them…_

No.

_Destroy them!_

Never!

So he ran.

The Rules

_Keep your identities a secret._

_Remain loyal to your team and your mentor._

_Protect the lives of the innocent at all costs._

_Never get too attached to a mission._

_Never take a life._

Breaking the Rules

_1_

Robin sighed, reaching up and pulling his shades from his eyes. "My name is Richard Grayson." He grinned at the team, his baby-blue eyes shining with mischief. "Nice to meet you."

_2_

"They're still treating us like kids!" Roy snarled, throwing his hands in the air and taking an almost sadistic pleasure in the hurt look that flit across Ollie's features.

"I'm done." He growled, throwing his hat on the ground and stomping on it for good measures before turning on his heel and storming out of the Hall.

_3_

Superboy let the tears fall, unashamed, down his face as he cradled the young girls broken body in his arms. He should have saved her…If he was faster, if he was stronger, if he could fly…She would still be alive. Superman would have-could have-saved her.

But he isn't Superman.

_4_

Kaldur shouldn't have accepted the mission. He knew it was a bad idea from the start, knew that something would go wrong. And yet, when Batman had asked for a volunteer to guard two Atlanteans who had been in the wrong place at the wring time, he had found himself offering to the job.

It was a choice he regretted ten-fold when he was informed that the two he was guarding were Tula and Garth.

_5_

_For mom…For Jade…For the team…_

The words whispered in her mind as she steadied her aim, and when her dark silver eyes flashed open, her decision was made. "Rot in Hell." She hissed, and with a twitch of her fingers she sent the shaft of the arrow hurtling in to his chest, severing the artery and releasing a tidal-wave of crimson liquid from his wound.

True to his training, Sportsmaster didn't cry out or let even a single tear of pain escape his grey orbs as his life-blood stained the ground around him.

"I…I'll wait for you there, Artemis." He growled with his final breath. As his eyes glazed over, his features frozen in his final, mocking grin, the blond archer collapsed beside the body of her father.

"Like hell you will, you bastard."

~ - ~ - … /~\ … - ~ - ~

_At one time or another, they all had broken the rules. Minor to major, treason to murder, they had all sinned, and fell short of the honor and perfection they tried so desperately to obtain. Yet when their time came to die, each would find themselves not in the fiery infernos of Hell, but instead treading down the metal-lined halls of the mountain that was their home. They would not be greeted by a satanic figure, nor a white-clothed deity, but instead by the teammates they had loved, the friends they had buried and the brothers and sisters they had carried in their hearts from that first day, when they stood bathed by moonlight and finally took control of their own destinies for the first time. They would remember good times and bad, the hard missions and the easy ones, and all the friends they gained and lost along the way._

_And that's where they would stay, friends and family until the end of time._


End file.
